kuala lumpur: Pat Perez took a four-stroke lead in the third round of the CIMB Classic in Malaysia yesterday with an eight-under-par 64, as Justin Thomas's title defence looked all but over.
The 41-year-old Perez's impressive performance put him on a three-day total of 21-under 195, leaving him in a strong position heading into the final round of the PGA Tour event today.
The American shrugged off sweltering heat at the TPC Kuala Lumpur to fire nine birdies as he continued his impressive putting, which has been the standout feature of his game this week.
He holds a significant advantage over second-placed compatriot Xander Schauffele, who sits four strokes behind him. Schauffele overcame a first hole bogey to end the day on five-under 67.
South Korea's Kang Sung-Hoon is also a threat heading into the final day at five shots behind Perez in third, while Japan's Hideki Matsuyama and American Keegan Bradley are in tied fourth position.
But the shock news of the event has been the poor performance of Thomas, who has just finished a superb season and was hoping to triumph in the tournament for a third successive year.
He improved slightly yesterday with a three-under-par 69 but he was still languishing far down the leaderboard in tied 24th position, 15 strokes off Perez.
Perez insisted he did not feel under pressure to win the US$7 million (approximately 230 million baht) event which is also sanctioned by the Asian Tour.
"I'm not going to put pressure on myself to win," he said. "Of course everybody wants to win, it would be nice to do it, get the year started off right, but it is what it is.
"I'm going to go out and try to hit a little better, make some putts and we'll see what happens."
Thailand's Jazz Janewattananond continued his good run in his PGA Tour debut.
The 21-year-old showed no signs of nervousness as he pitted himself against some of the world's best players at the Malaysian showpiece.
He shot a six-under 66 yesterday to stay joint seventh alongside American Ollie Schniederjans.
"I started off really good today. I was not that good on the greens today. I had two or three putts from a very close distance," he said. "Getting a chance to play in the CIMB Classic means a lot to me. I got to play with some good players today and a good result is all that I'm looking for.
"I guess I want to go out there and have fun. I really want to play well. Also, I will a chance to play with a couple of great players today and I am looking forward to it." bangkok post/afp
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